posted September 08, 2013 10:33
Putting on my TIN-FOIL HAT, and my Nomex fire suit. It used to be that we feared a hacker compromising our systems, NO MORE, I do not fear the pimple face teenager in his parents basement. I now fear our over reaching Government. So does NSA share its data with the IRS, Credit agencies, and the Banks? I used to distrust Google, they are small fish compared to the NSA.

We used to hold in disdain totalitarian governments while Ours was becoming much worse. Our Congress critters claim that they did not not know, BS. they kept approving the budgets, did they get info on challengers?

Right now our government is facing two large problems, one the total loss of trust of the people, and two a dictator that is trying to make someone else seem like a saint.

I propose to cut the CIA and By inference the NSAs budget. Thats right folks sequester their monies. Cut off the funding. Pull the F...... Plug....

posted September 08, 2013 13:56
As of Noon today I have E-Mailed my three Congress Critters, This

Putting on my TIN-FOIL HAT, and my Nomex fire suit. It used to be that we feared a hacker compromising our systems, NO MORE, I do not fear the pimple face teenager in his parents basement. I now fear our over reaching Government. So does NSA share its data with the IRS, Credit agencies, and the Banks? I used to distrust Google, they are small fish compared to the NSA.

We used to hold in disdain totalitarian governments while Ours was becoming much worse. Our Congress critters claim that they did not not know, BS. they kept approving the budgets, did they get info on challengers?

Right now our government is facing two large problems, one the total loss of trust of the people, and two a dictator that is trying to make someone else seem like a saint.

I propose to cut the CIA and By inference the NSAs budget. Thats right folks sequester their monies. Cut off the funding. Pull the F...... Plug....

The Bill of rights was written to protect the Citizens of this Country, however special interests have had Congress rewrite laws to take away those freedoms.

DE-FUND THE SPOOKS and Strike Bashar al-Assad, its time to clean up two messes.

posted September 09, 2013 09:44
For me, the only surprise here is that people are surprised.

For most of my career I've been securing systems, and whenever some manager asks if it's 'Completely Secure' my standard answer is"Well, it won't stop the CIA, but it will keep out the lesser evil"

I always assumed the spooks could break all the standard encryption and security technology. Frankly, I'd be appalled if they couldn't. With a budget exceeding the GDP of many small countries, WTF are they doing with all that $$$ if not hiring the best and brightest hackers and giving them processor power the rest of us only dream of?

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posted September 09, 2013 12:05
In theory in the USA. A land line phone call to another land line requires a court order to intercept. However if at your house or the person being called have/has a wireless phone, that radio transmission can be intercepted with out a court order.

Cell phone calls have no such restrictions, so if a call exits the land line system and becomes wireless, or begins as a cellular call all security bets are off the table.

I have long believed that the Internet was not protected as it started as a means of transferring data not personal voice.

The joke is about num. pairs, so now the Feds know how often the Mrs and my self order out.

posted September 09, 2013 14:49
Over at ars technica they were saying " the question is not if the NSA (CIA) can crack encryption X. The questions is how much capacity do they have. Meaing, ius it trivial to crack all secured data out there or are they limited and only go after priority targets.

I guess most peoples best best are a) Use enough security so that it would be more than trivial to get your data

b) don't become a priority target that they may want to expend peteflops on to get your data.
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posted September 09, 2013 15:14
Ash, when I order stuff on line, I load a debit card with a little more than needed then do the transaction, so if the card num. is compromised I will not lose much. Then go buy a new card.

posted September 09, 2013 15:37
The bad guys are not going to sniff your credit card number out of a single online transaction. They're going to buy it in bulk from a gang that hacked the entire credit card database from a major retailer or bank.

posted September 09, 2013 16:44
Ugh, I deal in Vintage motorcycle parts, Vintage Tractor parts, and Vintage radio gear. None of this stuff is at a major marketeer, Yes some of these guys appear shady, so I cover my behind. Some transactions are done in person, some over the phone, and some via web-link. CYA does apply.

posted September 11, 2013 10:20
ashitaka wrote:The questions is how much capacity do they have. Meaning, is it trivial to crack all secured data out there or are they limited and only go after priority targets.

You're very close. The question is how much capacity they have, but the capacity in question is not the capacity for cracking encrypted data.

The question is how much encrypted data they can store. By storing everything they can, they can go back and crack everything they've got on you once they decide that you're a person of interest.

And they aren't shy about it:The Utah Data Center was built with future expansion in mind. The storage capacity will ultimately be measured in "zettabytes".

posted September 11, 2013 22:05
2^10 = 1024. Google is changing their SSL keys to 2048 (2^11) -- but this is all for naught if 'someone else' has a copy of the key. (Recent publications suggest this has happened on a not-insignificant scale.) Joe Q. Hacker won't be able to intercept your Gmail-reading in a coffee shop, but your friends over in Ft. Meade probably can. :/

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posted September 12, 2013 09:19
So lets say that two individuals make a 2^20 code each have it set up on an off-line computer to write the messages/decode the messages, could these individuals keep some people in work for a few years?

quote:Originally posted by TheMoMan: So lets say that two individuals make a 2^20 code each have it set up on an off-line computer to write the messages/decode the messages, could these individuals keep some people in work for a few years?

2 individuals who generated files of completely random byes and exchanged them once or twice a day via email could keep an entire room full of spooks 'usefully' employed for years.

Not that I'm suggesting trolling the NSA or CIA, I'm just sayin'...

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posted September 12, 2013 22:28
TFD: Those two people might get the $5 wrench treatment seeking an explanation for what they're sending, though. :/

Mind you, it'd be fun up until that point.

--------------------There are three things you can be sure of in life: Death, taxes, and reading about fake illnesses online...Posts: 9332 | From: Westchester County, New York | Registered: May 2001
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quote:Originally posted by dragonman97: TFD: Those two people might get the $5 wrench treatment seeking an explanation for what they're sending, though. :/

Mind you, it'd be fun up until that point.

LOL!For those who don't get the reference...

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